LEESBURG, FLA. — Police are searching for three men in the shooting of an elderly man at a gas station Sept. 28. Officers responded at 2:40 p.m. at 2101 W. Main St. to find the victim unconscious in his automobile. Cell phone video collected by investigators show that there was a confrontation, possibly an attempted…
Author: frank
Women charged with exploiting elderly widow
LEESBURG, FLA. – Police have arrested three women on charges that they were defrauding an elderly woman in a scheme that that robbed her of $350,000. Kimberly Bitting,56, Lara Larsen, 57, and Ashton Silvis, 35, were arrested by Leesburg police. “Bitting, who had obtained power of attorney over the senior widow, abused this authority to…
What does it mean to be a Southerner?
How great is it to be a Southerner? It is not just about being native-born. Some people, like me, were hatched in the Midwest or other places but have spent years feeling the red clay of Georgia or the sand of Florida squeeze up between our toes. So, what is it, exactly? It is barbecue,…
Murder victim buried under concrete slab not a first
Last week’s conviction of a Laurie Shaver, who killed her husband and buried him under a concrete slab in the back yard was shocking but not a first for Lake County, Fla. “Fast cars, ‘stash houses’ filled with marijuana and cocaine, thick wads of money, hired guns and bullet-riddled bodies were the hallmarks of one…
Jury finds Shaver guilty of murder, burying husband in back yard
LAKE COUNTY, FLA. – laurie Shaver is guilty of murdering her husband, Michael, and burying him in the back yard, jurors decided Friday. She was convicted of second-degree murder. Circuit Judge Cary Rada ordered a presentence investigation. The six-member panel had barely retired to the jury room when they asked to again hear the recorded…
Mom, daughter testify in buried-in-backyard case
LAKE COUNTY, FLA. — It was a sometimes emotional but resilient 15-year-old Isabelle Shaver who testified Thursday about shooting her father to protect her mother when she was 7 years old on Nov. 7, 2015. She testified that the atmosphere in the house was “very combative, a lot of tension,” when Michael was in the…
New husband doesn’t question wife about body buried in back yard
LAKE COUNTY, FLA. – It was a tough day for Laurie Shaver’s husband in court Wednesday when he said he didn’t question her when her first husband’s body was found buried in the back yard. “At that time did you ask Ms. Shaver how that body got there?” Assistant State Attorney Nick Camuccio asked. “I…
Prosecutor: Wife sent messages from dead husband as “facade”
LAKE COUNTY, FLA. – Where is Michael Shaver? Is he OK? Why is he texting and sending strange messages – if at all? These are the kinds of questions friends and family members were asking before his body was discovered in his back yard and his wife, Laurie, charged with murder. His youngest sister, Christine…
Trial begins for woman accused of murder, burying husband in back yard
LAKE COUNTY, FLA. – Laurie Shaver killed her husband Michael, buried him in the back yard, then pretended to be him on social media, a prosecutor argued Monday. The defense says no; Laurie’s 7-year-old daughter and a boyfriend did the shooting. Witnesses will testify about her using his Facebook posts and texts to pretend he…
Man with gang ties arrested in murder
LAKE COUNTY, FL. — Police have arrested a man with alleged gang ties in the murder of a man who was shot multiple times outside a home in Leesburg on July 8. Ondrique D. Mosely, 18, of Lady Lake was arrested on Friday and charged with being a principal to first-degree premeditated murder in…